American Special Forces troops ran into an ambush early Monday during a reconnaissance mission in a remote mountain valley of southern Afghanistan. They escaped injury after calling in airstrikes on at least five gunmen positioned in caves, an American military spokesman said today.

Two Dutch F-16 planes, part of the coalition force, dropped laser-guided bombs, and American A-10 planes fired machine guns into the ridge and caves where the gunmen had been seen. At least five men had opened fire on the American soldiers with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades just after dawn on Monday, the American military spokesman, Col. Roger King, said at a briefing at Bagram Air Base. It was unclear if the rebels had suffered any casualties.

The Dutch Defense Ministry said the attackers fled after the F-16's bombed the area, Reuters reported.

The special forces had been sweeping a mountain valley in Baghran, in the top corner of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, in search of rebel fighters or weapons caches. Intelligence reports had indicated suspicious activity in the area, Colonel King said.

''We had troops that were moving through the valley,'' he said. ''It was just around dawn, and the troops came under fire from the ridge line on either side. Special Forcers were conducting an operation in that valley, looking for weapons caches and enemy personnel. We got some reports that there might be enemy personnel there and it looks like the reports were true.''

The United States military was not sure who the rebels were or whom they were aligned with, he said, adding, ''They fall under the heading of personnel who are against the coalition and against the government of Afghanistan.''

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The Baghran area, mountainous and forested, is thought to be a principal opium-smuggling route from central Afghanistan. But the Americans have suspected that there may also be rebel activity around Baghran, and in the neighboring province of Oruzgan. Over 50 Special Forces troops have been in Tirin Kot and Deh Rawud, two towns in Oruzgan just east of Baghran, for months because a number of senior Taliban figures are thought to have taken refuge near there.

The former Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, is thought to have retreated to his home province of Oruzgan when the southern town of Kandahar fell to the anti-Taliban alliance in December 2001. He was reported to be moving in the remote mountains between Deh Rawud and Baghran last year, along with some of his closest commanders and followers. In July, just south of Baghran, Afghan aid workers saw a long convoy of four-wheel-drive cars with armed guards, which they said certainly belonged to a major Taliban commander.

American military officers say they think that Mullah Omar is now in Pakistan. But they have noticed increased activity in the region recently, suggesting that rebel fighters may be gathering again or setting up bases in the area.

The increased activity comes amid a propaganda campaign by Taliban supporters and other opponents of the government calling for rebels to fight against the United States presence in Afghanistan and the Kabul government. The campaign, spread by handwritten leaflets and announcements to the press, warns that fighters will rise up if the United States goes to war against Iraq.